Polychromatic Apertures
by WhereLieAngels
Summary: Alternative title: Shenanigans in a Mundane Oxford. A pissed Zelretch interferes with the conclusion of Lyra and Will's story. Now we have one frustrated angel, one confused doctor, and a an emo knife-wielder. May Gaia help us. HDM/Nasuverse Crossover, with the main focus being on Will's Oxford and of course, the ever epic Wizard Marshall.


_Kaleidoscopic Reflection_

Wizard Marshall Kischur Zelretch Scwienorg was intrigued. In his prolonged lifespan after his terrible battle with Crimson Moon, he had improved and further mastered his creation, the Second Sorcery. He had visited a myriad of universes and met a large variety of interesting individuals, and added more otherworldly knowledge to his already impressive arsenal. He had taken in many more apprentices, not all from his homeworld, and even assisted in creating a ritual that would change the lives of countless others. However, none of this was currently on his mind as he pondered the current turn of events.

The last world he visited had been very, very intriguing. The Third Sorcery had been inborn into the humans of that world. A world in which people's souls had physical representations in the material world, even if it was devoid of the art known as Magecraft.

Even so, in that world, a human had somehow replicated _his own Sorcery._ Sure, it had been one of brute force, an imperfect method that had damaged the very fabric of Gaia, but it still allowed travel between parallel worlds. Especially when it had lead to a crossroads world that had doors to many other worlds.

From there, it was a simple task to unravel the entire chain of events. The two children, after all, had left quite the trail of disturbances behind them. Watching them grow and love each other was interesting. Watching them cut open a door in the land of death was shocking. Watching them free the first angel and let it die had left him speechless.

Another facet of their adventure he targeted was the Subtle Knife. Or, if you were to call it by it's true name, Æsah**æ**ttr, the God-Destroyer which had lived up to its name. A Noble Phantasm that was barely three hundred years old, yet possessed immense potential. A powerful artefact forged by mere humans without knowledge of Magecraft-

Maybe they _had_ knowledge of Magecraft. The Guild of the Tower of the Angels, after all, had stolen many things from many worlds using this power.

It didn't matter, in the end. The means that it used to achieve Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon, that is, the way it created openings into parallel universes, was by brute force cutting and hacking which inevitably damaged the fabric of the world.

When the World was damaged, it would react. When something threatens to upset the balance of the World, the World would undoubtedly right itself. That was the way the system worked. He remembered yet another of his conversations, this time with the estranged sister of the Blue Magus, Touko Aozaki. Touko had told him that _sometimes, when the Counter Force is focused, it coalesces and becomes a literal manifestation, which casts its hands into fate to move otherwise normal people in positions that would topple great men._

Lyra Belacqua and William Parry were thus so agents of the Counter Force. By the World's design, she hid and eavesdropped into a conversation she shouldn't have, and he entered a window into another world and trusted her.

The sad part was, when the World didn't need them anymore, it threw them aside, away from each other forever.

The ways of the world did not rest well in his heart. After the sixth generation of Tohsaka that managed to recreate his gem sword, his became slightly more interested in the smaller events of the world. Well, he became more of an interdimensional meddler than he already was...

That was why, in the final meeting of the children, he, disregarding the insistence of several _angels_, had manipulated the mind of the boy using Magecraft, and caused him to take a slightly different cause of action.

* * *

_Clashing Colours_

A despondent William Parry and a quiet Mary Malone were back in Oxford.

"Now," he said, turning to Mary, "take the knife and lock it away. Keep it sealed from me, so that I'll never again tear another hole in the world. So that I'll never again succumb to the temptation of seeing Lyra." Tears threatened to leak out of his eyes.

"If it's that much trouble, why not just destroy the knife?" Mary questioned. "It's not as if you'll ever use it again."

"I could never destroy the knife. Please, just take it and lock it away. As the bearer of the knife, I can't just-" Will's voice broke. Overwhelming emotion was now evident in his tone as he held the knife towards her. "You could do research on the knife. Even without making any more holes, you could still find a way to travel between worlds without harming them." A silver of hope had entered his choked voice.

"But-" Mary stopped. She stopped and recalled the instructions she had received. _You must play the serpent_, the angel had said. It would be cruel for her to withhold the knife, as Will would eventually hate himself and her for doing so. The idea of researching the knife also seemed profane to her.

_Playing the serpent._ In other words, _doing the work of the Devil._

She steeled herself, and accepted. She then talked to Will, which gathered an oddly quiet Kirjava into his arms, about less painful things, and lead them both home. For now, their minds settled to a state of relative calm.

A short distance away, Zelretch Kischur Schweinorg and the angel Xaphania faced each other.

"I cannot undo what you have done, Sorcerer. But I assure you, that was a terrible choice. Leaving the knife intact would continue to tempt him, and he would eventually succumb."

"From my observations, the world you have striven to create was one of freedom. That means I get to do whatever I want," the Wizard Marshall replied with a crooked smile. "And I hate to see two young innocent children have broken hearts for the rest of their lives."

"Do what you will, Sorcerer. I cannot harm you because somehow you have surpassed the World's laws. Is this how you travel between worlds?"

"I would have thought that would have been obvious. My way does not leave holes in the World's fabric, and thus is of no harm to you. The angels will take care of the Spectres, the chasm in the Underworld, and the great rend in the skies of Lyra's world."

"Even so, the risk that you take, which may undo what we have done-"

"There is no reward without risk, angel. It is one of the laws of the world. In order to gain something, something else of equal or greater value must be sacrificed. That is the law of Equivalent Exchange."

"Even so, what you might do could-"

"Xaphania." Zelretch addressed the angel by name, an edge of steel creeping into his tone. "To deny the choice of another, even those who are so much younger and more foolish than yourself, is arrogance close to the Authority's."

"I know, but even so, I would like to make sure that their efforts-"

"Have not been wasted? In order to restore the rightful flow of Dust, you sacrificed the love- the first love, may I add- of two _innocent children._ Instead of being rewarded for their efforts, the cruel hands of Fate pried them apart as payment. I, however, am above the World, having reached the Root of all Creation, and thus I am able to circumvent quite a number of rules. This instance of Equivalent Exchange will just be another. So, angel, I urge you to still your hand." The air around Zelretch glowed as the Second Sorcery was activated.

"You would leave now, just like that?"

"No, for I have one last thing to say. If you wished control, Xaphania, then the Authority's service was your path. You fought for choice, for knowledge, for freedom: thus behold the fruit of your labours."

With a flash of multicoloured light, Zelretch disappeared. The angel Xaphania gave no reply to the empty air, for she had none.

* * *

_Author's Notes:_

won't let me add Zelretch to the Character list, because he's simply to awesome to be limited to either Tsukihime or Fate/Stay Night. Isn't it sad?


End file.
